


The Laika Project

by Alex_deMorra (Ergo_Sum)



Category: Original Work
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-14
Updated: 2018-05-14
Packaged: 2019-05-06 19:33:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14654667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ergo_Sum/pseuds/Alex_deMorra
Summary: It's time for May's Flash Fiction Challenge: https://apostrophen.wordpress.com/2018/05/07/may-flash-fiction-draw/Genre: Science FictionObject: A Dog WhistleLocation: Above The CloudsMy inspiration, Laika, was the dog sent into space by the Russians. I imagine the day when our best friends are sent en masse as experiments for living in space when Earth is too dangerous for us to stay here.More about Laika here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2367681.stm





	The Laika Project

_Pain._

They were bred to understand but not to be understood. Had that not been the case, the shrill note might have felt more sympathetic. As it was, its volume and frequency eviscerated the fascia under her skin. It shook her thinning layer of fur that, had she been on land, would be enough to protect from the coldest, arctic winter. That she salivated when she heard the sound was an injury.

Days go faster here but there are only colors. Nothing more. First, black. Then, blue. Then, yellow. Then, blue. Then, black for longer than any of the other colors. Then, blue again. The colors churn, not fast enough to make her dizzy on purpose but she is dizzy nevertheless.

Nothing feels right.

Nothing has felt right in a long time.

 _Pain_.

That sound again. A sound like a human she once knew came from a speaker. “Eat, Misty. Be a good girl and eat.” Her paw lowered onto a clutch and flavored jelly filled the bowl. It smelled like meat but that was where the similarity ended. She bent toward the food and didn’t eat. She tried. She couldn’t. The cramping wouldn’t go away. Her eyes wouldn’t stay open.

More tinny voices came through the speaker. “She’s lasted longer than the others.” “Why won’t she eat?” “We can’t send another person up there until—“ “A person won’t encounter stress in the same way.” “Are you certain she is free to move?” “It is the opposite; if she were free to move, she would not have lasted so long.”

The day Misty was moved into this cage, a platform of humans cheered and waved. She felt like a hero until the solid metal door separated her from them. Not long after that, a fire ripped the sky from behind her.

Now, there was only this.

 _Pain_.

They are trying to speak with her. She no longer understands.

 _Pain_.

The sound. It’s relentless.

 _Pain_.

It’s blue now moving into the black. She closes her eyes. The sound starts up again but she feels nothing.


End file.
